Thursday, March 3, 2011

Slow Cooker Jambalaya

It's Mardi Gras time! Chicken Legs and I aren't big Mari Gras people. I've only been to Mardi Gras once. I went with a bunch of sorority sisters when I was in college. We all piled in my Honda Prelude and took a road trip to New Orleans. We stayed in the French Quarter so we were close to the action. I saw things on Bourbon Street that I've never seen before or since. It is truly amazing what people will do for some cheap plastic beads. It was definitely an experience to remember - once was enough for me!

Our current Mardi Gras celebration is much more tame. We just like to make some jambalaya. I thought about making my favorite Creamy Jambalaya Pasta, but then I found a slow cooker jambalaya recipe. It sounded easy so I gave it a try. It turned out to be the best jambalaya ever! We both absolutely loved it.

This was SO easy to make. I mixed everything up in the crockpot insert the night before and threw it in the fridge. I put the insert in the crockpot before I left for work and dinner was ready when I got home. The only thing I had to make was our favorite Cheesy Biscuits.

In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, garlic, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme. (I do this the night before and put it in the fridge. I put it in the slow cooker before I leave in the morning.)

Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High. Mix in cooked rice cook for about 15 minutes to warm through.

This recipe looks delicious! I am going to try it for tonight but wondered if you use raw celery or dried celery flakes. Celery isn't mentioned in the list of ingredients, but you do list it below when mixing everything together. And what amount depending on if it is raw or dried? Thanks so much!

I made this recipe with just a few changes and it turned out awesome!! I featured it on my blog with a link to your recipe. Stop by and check it out. http://threeyellowlemons.blogspot.com/2011/11/jambalaya-slow-cooker.html

This looks fabulous - can't wait to try it! I was just wondering if you could define Cajun seasoning. Is that like Tony Chachere's? Or can you just buy a jar of something called "Cajun seasoning" at the grocery store? Thanks!

Making this in the morning so don't know if I will get an answer by then. It doesn't seem like there is enough liquid with one cup of broth to cook all day while I'm at work. I guess this is more of a statement

I have a picky eater in my youngest son, but tonight, he demolished his serving and asked for seconds of this! Thank you for posting such an easy, wonderful recipe. I did end up adding some frozen chopped spinach to the mix just to sneak in some veggies, and it was amazing. All my guys gave it two huge thumbs up, and I have already planned on making this again this month!

I will be making this recipe for the 3rd time for my family for my Mom's Cajun Christmas Eve. I LOVE this recipe! You can smell it cooking outside :) Looking forward to trying it with her shrimp and grits.

Abbie - I think the tomatoes are important. They give the dish a lot of the flavor. You can use crushed tomatoes if you don't like the chunks. You could also use some tomato juice or tomato sauce if you don't want to use diced tomatoes.

I made this for dinner yesterday and it was absolutely delicious. Of course, I realized after we devoured it all that I forgot to put the garlic in. I can only imagine how good it would have been with that. But it definitely was great without it (in case anyone else forgets lol).

I received a gift certificate for a specialty meat shop from my work for Christmas. I ordered some alligator sausage and when I saw this recipe I had a feeling the alligator would be a perfect substitute for the turkey sausage and I was right. This was excellent and very easy, thanks for sharing!

I'm making this for the first time today, but as I started putting everything in the slow cooker, I discovered that I hadn't bought any celery because it's not on the ingredient list =( Might want to add that! I'm excited to try it though!

Well...I made this last Sunday and refridgerated and froze leftovers for the week. It was perfect, and lasted me until Friday. No additional chicken broth or water was needed. The only thing I might do next time is switch out turkey sausage for pork. Thanks for sharing!

made a variation of this last mardi gras, makin it again tomorrow. I'm gonna add some bacon this time, and no celery ever (even tho celery is listed in the directions on this page but not the ingredients womp wommpp). This is a good recipe, easy to make , nice n spicy! I recommend using andouille sausage and real onion instead of flakes, omnom nom!!!!

How about the recipe for the Cheesy Biscuits? Just saw the episode on Guy's Grocery Games that featured Jambalaya - and I needed to find an easy recipe to do. Going to make this for our out-of-town guests coming later this week.

Is this super spicy? I'm not a big fan of things that are high up on the spice-o-meter! ;) Also, it froze well? I'm in college so I was thinking about making the whole batch and then freezing what was left over so I had less meals to make. One more thing, lol, how big of a crockpot did you use? Thanks!!

I live alone so I have quartered the recipe, was wondering about the celery lucky I read the posts, I am going to add garlic prawns ( as we call them here in the great land of Aus ) about 5 minute before I tuck into this tonight I also didn't have any Turkey sausage but I am using Kransky instead ... I'm sure it will be sensational ... Thanks for the Recipe